When Laȝamon's Uther arrives at Tintagel, he doesn’t enter the late fifth-century settlement revealed by recent archaeology, but a castle that didn’t exist on that site. Looking at the fifth century through the lens of the twelfth produces a blurred version of the past. My attempts to reconcile that version with what is now known about late fifth century Britain makes the picture even less focussed. I recommend the pleasures of a flexible attitude towards geography, history, architecture and chronology.

The story of Arthur’s conception erupts into the familiar patterns of the Brut. It would bemore at home in the world of The Mabinogion, where shape shifting is commonplace. I have introduced Welsh stories that must have been circulating while Laȝamon was alive. Although I’ve known and loved these stories for decades, I would not have felt comfortable writing versions of them without first translating the originals. The editions I used are given in the footnotes. There is a current fashion for rewriting medieval and classical stories to make them acceptable to a modern audience. I think this is a mistake. No one can make an accurate map of a landscape if they remove the features they find objectionable.

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